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Quick Grammar Reference
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>>Verbs > Past Participle
The past participle is equivalent to the ending -ed placed on English verbs. In the English phrase I had hoped, the past participle of the verb hope is used.
To form the past participle, you will take the infinitive without its -ar, -er, or -ir ending (its "stem") and add the following endings.
| -ar verbs (falar to speak) | -er verbs (vender to sell) | -ir verbs (partir to leave) | |
| -ado (falado) | -ido (vendido) | -ido (partido) |
In Portuguese, they are most often used to form compound verb constructions, where you will use various forms of the verb ter to have with the past participle (this is similar to the English construction to have -ed).
Past participles can be used as adjectives, in which case they vary to match the number and gender of the noun they describe. In the phrase os apartamentos são construídos the apartments are built, the past participle of construir to build (construído built) describes the masculine plural noun apartamentos apartments, so it is modified to reflect that (apartamentos construídos built apartments).
There are a number of irregular past participles. Here is a list of the most common ones:
| Infinitive | Past Participle |
| abrir to open | aberto open(ed) |
| cobrir to cover | coberto covered |
| dizer to say | dito said |
| escrever to write | escrito written |
| fazer to do | feito done |
| morrer to die | morto dead |
| pôr to put | posto placed |
| romper to break | roto broken (but the regular rompido is preferred) |
| ver to see | visto seen |
| vir to come | vindo come |
Some irregular past participles are only used as adjectives, otherwise the regular forms are used:
| Infinitive | Past Participle | Adjective |
| aceitar to accept | aceitado accepted | aceito accepted |
| acender to light | acendido lit | aceso lit |
| fritar to fry | fritado fried | frito fried |
| ganhar to win | ganhado won | ganho won |
| gastar to spend | gastado spent | gasto spent |
| juntar to join | juntado joined | junto together |
| limpar to clean | limpado cleaned | limpo clean |
| nascer to be born | nascido born | nato born |
| pagar to pay | pagado paid | pago paid |
The adjective is used to describe a noun, whereas the past participle is used with the verb ter to have to form a compound verb.